Holiday dinner is served

-St. Joseph's HOPE program to feed 600 families a Thanksgiving meal.

-St. Joseph's HOPE program to feed 600 families a Thanksgiving meal.

November 22, 2006|JIM MEENAN Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND A small red truck pulled up in front of St. Joseph's High School early Monday morning. About 20 students eagerly lined up at the front door to haul the heavy boxes filled with turkeys into the gym. The finishing touches, albeit the most important ones, like the turkey, were being put on another highly successful Thanksgiving Food Drive by HOPE members at the school. St. Joseph's students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends had already raised $27,000 to purchase the turkeys and boxes full of items such as muffin mix, a dozen canned goods, a box of cornflakes, baking goods, syrup and even detergent. Adjacent to each of the large boxes was a sizable bag of potatoes donated by John and Terry Matthys, who also donated onions and cabbage. A total of 220 families would have a Thanksgiving meal provided by the St. Joseph's High School community. Another 380 needy families would receive gift certificates for $40 so they could purchase food themselves. "Another year, another amazing accomplishment, actually," said a nearly exhausted Susan Lightcap, the Helping Other People Endure (HOPE) adviser at the school. "The community is so giving, so generous, so good-hearted and so spirited." Even the students were amazed at the gymful of 220 boxes. "I think it's amazing," said senior Joseph Goepfrich, who has been in HOPE for three years. "You can see how many boxes we have set up (in the gym) and we raised money for 600 families. "I think it's pretty impressive what we can do for a community, just a small school like this." HOPE receives the names of those in need from the St. Vincent dePaul Society. If there are baskets leftover, HOPE gives them to families who call in requesting help. Kelli Zeese, a junior, was looking forward to making the deliveries later that afternoon. "It's been really enjoyable being able to give back and being able to drive this year and deliver the food, too, and see their faces," Zeese said. "It's like a great joy. "Most of them are so grateful and all the little kids are so excited. It's kind of like an early Christmas for them." Diane Fox, the founder of HOPE, was there helping, too. "It's an absolute tradition," she said, recalling she has been a part of it since 1980. "And the amazing thing is each year we do more than we did the previous year. Every year it gets bigger." For Lightcap, that is the challenging part, especially since the food items are purchased before all the money comes in. "It's a little nerve-wracking," she said, noting this year Container Service Corp. came through big time when there was a mix-up with the boxes. The South Bend company donated 250 to more than cover HOPE's needs. "We put it in the hands of the Lord," Lightcap said. "Very truly we know that we are doing what God calls us to do and every year we do not come up short."Staff writer Jim Meenan: jmeenan@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6342